Comic Rewind: Harrow County Vol. 1

A witch is stabbed, shot, hung and finally burned in Harrow County Vol. 1.

Hester Beck was a healing woman who did a lot of good in Harrow County. Everyone loved her until they found out she was taking children into the woods and partaking in strange rituals. Beck would also meet with monsters in the woods. Her fellow townspeople turned on her and decided to put an end to her.

As Beck was dying she promised she would be back. A little while later everyone in town heard a baby’s cry coming from the hanging tree. From within a scar in the tree they saw a young girl and a woman’s corpse. That young girl is Emmy.

Emmy lives on a farm with her father. She has constant nightmares of a Beck’s death, but she doesn’t know who it is and tells no one. In a few days it is Emmy’s 18th birthday and the town is concerned she will awaken and become Beck to take her revenge.

However, Emmy is the sweetest girl anyone could ever hope to meet. Recently farm animals have been dying and Emmy brings a young calf from the brink of death. Her father becomes just as concerned as everyone around her.

They decide they must kill her before the turn happens, but Emmy gets help from an unnatural source.

Harrow County Vol. 1 was written by Cullen Bunn with art by Tyler Crook. Dark Horse Comics published the volume in 2015.

A lot of horror comics I read have very little horror in them. They have a monster or deaths, but nothing scary or creepy. However, this comic is really creepy. When Beck is being hung she has a smirk on her face. There is also a boy with no skin running around.

I loved the tone of the comic and the story was interesting. However, it is extremely slow. The volume barely kept my attention. I wanted the story to really begin, but it never really picked up.

The art was done very well and was done in a water color type of style, but I don’t think it was done in water color. The colors are too clean and with no color run off over the lines. I think the background may have some watercolor. The color is very muted and bleak.

I wanted a bit more from the comic, but it just didn’t quite grabbed me like I hoped. The main problem was how slowly the story was progressing. I liked the horror elements, but it shied away from the real creepy stuff towards the end. The comic was overall a little bit boring.